Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee Hints

This is by no means a full walkthrough for Munch's Oddysee. When I started playing Munch's Oddysee there were no walkthroughs, guides or even hints to be found on the Web due to the fact that the XBox had just come out and Munch's Oddysee was one of the launch titles :-) Since I was stuck at least a couple of times and really had no resources to refer to, I thought I'd put together a simple list of hints in case somebody else might find it useful.

If you want a full walkthrough, you probably should refer to Sinjin's site as that is the only site that I know of currently that has a walkthrough for Munch's Oddysee. Of course, the walkthrough is not complete at the moment but since the page was almost blank three days ago and now it has quite a lot of stuff there, I hope that in a week or two the walkthrough will be there in all it's glory :-) Till then, here are my hints ... and if you have any questions about anything not mentioned here, feel free to contact me.

• Spooceshrub Forest
  In this level you control only Abe. It is almost a tutorial level and introduces quite a few of the game concepts - not very difficult at all as long as you follow the trail of spooceshrubs.
• Hydroponics Vats
  This level introduces Munch and his unique abilities. Again it is more or less a tutorial level and is not that difficult.
• Fluoride Tanks
  This level continues Munch's adventures. Watch out for those water mines and remember that Munch can jump higher and further when he has a running (or rather swimming) start.
• Mudokon Pens
  The first level where you have to switch between Abe and Munch. Always keep their individual strengths and weaknesses in mind - Abe is good on land but sinks like a stone in water, Munch isn't too fast nor can he jump high on land but he is at home in water. So while Abe can't cross over at first, Munch can - so use him and then once you are over, you should be able to find a way to activate the Travel Well at the point where Abe is stuck. Can't figure out how to open the locked cages with the Fuzzles and the Mudokons? Munch can use his zap-ability to free the Fuzzles and they can take care of the slig guard inside and open the doors - simple :-) Then you have to get through the doorway blocked by explosive boxes - use Munch to get upto the remote on the hill and then use the crane to get rid of the explosive boxes blocking the path as well as the slig guards inside. So how does Munch get up to the crane? Notice the three chanting circles on the dock? Get the Mudokons to chant there to open up the Travel Well in the water and then Munch can use it ... Still stuck after getting Abe and his buddies in to the blocked area by another blocked doorway? Notice the little ledge in this area up on top? Maybe the crane can take somebody (like perhaps Abe :p) up there? The rest should be pretty simple ... except perhaps about how to get to the next level - just have Munch and Abe (both) stand on the teleporter at the very end of the level to get to the next level.
• Sloghut 1027
  This was the first level where I ran into problems. There is a long hallway with sligs and slogs and lots of mines. There seems to be no way to get through it with the Mudokon scrubs. The key is in the fact that Abe can run just as fast while carrying something/somebody as he can without anything in his hands.
• The Mudokon Fortress
  You might have trouble finding all the Mudokons needed to chant at the Storm Circle. Remember that there is one outside the main gate (the one that you have to close by getting your Mudokons to chant ...) You have to go around to get him. Remember also that Abe's posession ability can be a great way to get rid of enemies without having to resort to hand-to-hand combat - use it as much as possible. If you are stuck on the final part after chanting at the Storm Circle, remember that Munch can jump really high out of the water (and on to things) if he tries.
• Sloghut 2813
  This is very similar to the previous Sloghut level except for the fact that there are exploding boxes dropping out of the ceiling. The boxes are dropped by sligs who are standing on a gallery along the hallway. You can take out the sligs on one side of the hallway and that will reduce the danger of falling boxes. The snoozer at the beginning of the hallway can only be operated by a remote at the end of the hallway and Munch can access it via the gallery (as long as the slig guards are taken out). If a snoozer is taken out by the guards, another one can be activated only via the lever at the point where the snoozer appears.
• Paramite Run
  This level is mainly a matter of running extremely fast :-) The easiest way to get through this level is to get the paramites to run after Abe (after he's imbibed some Expresso of course) and then make them run into the mines on the ground ... Since Munch can't jump over obstacles (you can make him do tricks with the wheel chair to jump over stuff but it's hard :p), if you clear out all the paramites you can just have Abe throw Munch over the obstacles to get him to the end of the level.
• Meep Herder Village
  This is a pretty easy level and you simply have to use the same tactics that you've used in previous levels. You'll have to look around a bit (and have enough Mudokons to chant ...) to find the end of the level but it's straight enough ... You might be puzzled as to how to get to the manager since only Abe can get there and the door to the manager's room is opened by a pressure plate - remember that you can use posession (and the posession orb can jump obstacles just like Abe or Munch - the "A" key is your friend :p)
• Brewery To Be
  Getting to the brewery proper might be a bit daunting. It's on top of the mountain/hill in the middle of the area and Abe will have to do some fancy jumping to get there. Once you are there, you will need to get the scrubs upt to the managers doorway since there are two doors and one is opened by chanting. The other doorway is again a pressure plate - get used to them since all the managers have such a door.
• Fuel Fields
  I was really confused as to how to get through this level since I thought of the water as Munch's domain. Notice however that there are quite a few platforms in the water and that they are not spaced too far apart - perhaps a bit of jumping? You need to get enough Mudokons to chant at the level exit doorway and in order to do this Abe will have to go through a minefield - there is a way across ... you just have to find it and you can do it without too much jumping.
• Magog Motors
  You meet some new, tough guards here. Remember that the guards on the towers - along the long bridge lined with mines - are basically in the water and that Munch is king in the water. It might be tough to get the scrubs to the end of the level if you throw them down from the upper level (as I did :p) so keep them up there unless you need some help with the guards on the lower level. But there really is no penalty even if you don't get the scrubs out...
  
• Dead River
  The toughest part here for me was finding the four Mudokons needed at the beginning of the level to open the gateway. Notice that there is a vendo machine of Bounce at one corner of the village and that probably means that most of the Mudokons you need are somewhere up high. Most were easy to find but if you're missing one look between the two close set hills close to the vendo. Once you get through the initial gate, it is mostly a matter of getting Abe to get an army of Mudarchers and then taking out the slig guards.
  
• No Muds Land
  You have to get both Abe and Munch across to the far end. Abe can walk the narrow pathways above but what about Munch? The doorways for each room is opened from the inside - so Abe will have to clear the path for Munch. The easiest method is to clear the rooms one by one of enemies and then simply lead Munch through. The Manager for this level is not so obvious - just look around at the very end - he's up a stairway and through a pressure well.
• Boiler Room
  Pretty much the same stuff that has gone before. If you are stuck as to how to get through the very first part, remember that Munch can use the remote to drop Abe in a different area. There is a junior executive who can be deprived of his cash at the end of the level but you will need spooce to get to him. The spooce is located in the area where all the slig guards are sleeping (you can hear their snoring). Find a walkway which leads up - there's another remote here that Munch can use as well.
• Splinterz Manufacturing
  You first see the Blitz Packer vendo on this level - this vendo can only be used by sligs to arm them to the teeth but since Abe can control sligs by posession, Abe can use these indirectly. Note that a call security guard lever on a level where in most places Abe can't do a posession orb due to the Charm Supressor Orbs (the ones that zap Abe when he tries to create a posession orb) probably has some significance. You cannot kill all the slig guards on this level - some of them keep on regenerating endlessly. The trick is to kill as many as you can and get around the one's that are left. I was able to get the total sligs left on the level down to four but you may do better - the trick seems to be to kill the sligs outside the room where the regenerator is but I'm not too sure about this.
• Reservoir Row
  This is probably the toughest of the levels up to now. It has a lot more platformer type action where you have to do a lot of near-death jumps and stuff :p Save often unless you are a glutton for punishment and like repeating narrow escapes. The level stars with you taking out a Junior Executive and from then onwards it's kind of a strictly by the numbers operation since the Junior Executives are in towers marked by numbers and you simply have to go through them numerically :-) When you get the fourth executive, you'll find that either Abe or Munch will have to remain trapped because of the way the doors and pressure plates work. Don't be fooled by appearances - both of them can leave (and both of them do need to leave ...) as long as you realize that Abe can jump pretty far as long as he has a running start. If you are stuck at the very end as to how to activate the transporter to the next level, the lever is right there below you. Remember that Munch doesn't have to go all the way around to get back - if he dies, Abe can resurrect him at the nearby Egg Nest.
• Flub Fuels Scrub Pens
  A pretty straightforward level where cooperation is the key. First Munch has to clear the way for Abe and then Abe reciprocates for Munch and so on. You have to free both Mudokons and Fuzzles in this level but there is no manager on this one.
• Flubco Executive Office
  Finally, the CEO of Flubco! If you are having trouble getting out of the first room, sometimes a standing jump is better than a running one :-) While I would normally advocate saving and restoring often till you get it right, on this level it might actually be better to die a couple of times and get resurrected since it removes certain obstacles from your path - you'll see what I mean when you're in this particular section. Once you get to the otherside of the gauntlet of fire <vbg> you might be tempted to be masochistic and run back and forth with the scrubs one by one. I guess you could do that if you want to or, since the doorway where Munch and the scrubs are is open (the lever is at the other end), Munch could maybe carry out some guerilla action :-) Once you open the doorway to the CEO's office, if you are stuck, remember that up is a direction too ...
• The Loading Dock
  Back at Vykkers Labs but this time with Abe as well. If you hoard scrubs till the very end (like me :p) you might be puzzled as to how to proceed at the very beginning - the secret is in letting the scrubs go through the Rescue Portal :-) This one is kind of like a jigsaw puzzle - you just have to figure out how all the pieces fit together. In order to get the Mudokon eggs out, Munch needs access to the remote for the crane and to get that ... well, there's the hint about flooding the place :p So how do you flood the place? Munch needs to get to the main switch - which is in a separate area that is accessed from the water - the entrance is in the gap between the walkways leading from the room where the Mudokon eggs are. Of course, the main switch is guarded by a bunch of heavily armed Vykkers guards - my tactic was to use guerilla tactics with Munch, hit them a couple of times and then run, repeat and rinse :-) You'll need to get Abe to the main switch as well since there are two switches (you have to do a quick switch to get Abe and Munch to pull the switches at the same time). There is a pressure plate which opens a doorway for Abe but Abe has to find the doorway which is in a different room than the Mudokon Egg room. Remember that you'll need to get both Abe and Munch back to the egg room to proceed to the next level.
• Labour Egg Storage
  There's a bunch of guards in one of the first rooms you have to pass through - you can either have Munch use the Invisible and Expresso Vendos and go through to get the wheel chair and use the Zap Vendo and then attack them or simply have Abe run in there and hit them till he dies and have Munch resurrect him. I used a combination of the two. There are platforms above this room (which is where most of the firing comes from anyway) and the objective is to get to the platform above the guards so that you can take them out with bombs - plus there's a batch of Mudokon eggs there (If you are having trouble getting Abe to put these particular eggs in the loading tube, the trick is to not stand too close - Abe can throw things pretty far :p). The strategy here seems to be to clear out the guards a level at a time and sometimes you have to use Abe to clear out the bottom level and then use Munch to clear out the upper levels. The rest is pretty easy enough - if you have trouble with the three Vykker managers at the very end of the level, Munch with his zap ability is a better choice than Abe ...
• Vykker Suites
  The final stage! There are a lot of Vykkers around - you might think they are regnerating but they're not - just keep on posessing them from up in the gallery till they are all gone. The Lil' Hacker and Snuzi vendos at the beginning and end of the area probably gives the unarmed Vykkers weapons but I took out all of them before I noticed them :p Get all the Mudokons since you're going to need them a little later on when you run into a room full of armored Vykkers. The rest is a cakewalk so go through it and then sit back and enjoy the extremely well done ending sequences :-)